Prayer Groups

Prayer groups seek to help us grow in our relationship with God. Prayer is how we talk to God. We have some prayer groups that meet at St. Mary’s on a weekly basis and some that meet less frequently. All of these groups are open for you to join.

Centering Prayer –Centering prayer is an ancient prayer form first practiced by the Desert Fathers in Egypt prior to the Nicean Council and was continued by Catholic mystics such as Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Although long practiced in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, it has not been emphasized in Protestant denominations, but there has been a recent resurgence of the practice in Anglican circles. In centering prayer, which is also known as contemplative prayer, the practitioner attempts to still the mind as much as possible by focusing on a word, phrase, or visual object. St. Mary’s offers two opportunities to engage in centering prayer: The Chapel is reserved for contemplative prayer on Wednesday evenings from 7:30-8:30 p.m. The Wednesday evening group reads from various books and then practices centering prayer. Please consider joining. No preparation is needed.